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Inbhear - Inver

INVER, a parish, in the barony of BANNAGH,
county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 6 miles (W.) from Donegal;
containing, with the town of Mount Charles (which is described under its own
head), 11,785 inhabitants. This parish, which is also called Invernayle, is
situated on the river and bay of Inver, on the north-west coast; and
comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 36,810 3/4 statute acres, of
which 35,943 are applotted under the tithe act, and 205 1/3 are water. St.
Natalis, who died in 563, was abbot of a monastery here, on the site of
which was founded, in the 15th century, a monastery for Franciscans of the
third order, which after the dissolution was granted by Jas. I. to Viscount
Clandeboy. The bay of Inver lies between Doorin Point and St. John's Point,
both of which are included in this parish; and within the bay is Port
harbour, on the south of which, at Ballymacdonnell, vessels may anchor in
from three to six fathoms of water during north-west or south-east winds. In
a precipice on the coast of the bay are indications of iron-ore, but none
has yet been worked. Fairs are held at Mount Charles, which has a penny post
to Ardara, Donegal, and Killybegs. The principal seats are White Hill, the
residence of the Rev. -- Montgomery; Bonny Glen, of Murray Babington, Esq.;
and the Hall, of Col. Pratt. The living is a consolidated rectory and
vicarage, in the diocese of Raphoe, constituting the corps of the prebend of
Inver in Raphoe cathedral, and in the patronage of the Bishop; the tithes
amount to £346. 3. 1. The glebe-house is a neat residence, and the glebe
comprises 210 acres, of which 97 are cultivated. The church, for the repair
of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £186, is a
spacious edifice with a spire. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of
the Established Church: the chapel is a spacious edifice. About 360 children
are taught in five public schools, of which the parochial school is partly
supported by grants from Col. Robertson's fund, a school at Mountcharles by
the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity, and a school by the Wesleyan
Missionary Society. There are also 12 private schools, in which are about
350 children, and four Sunday schools. In the bog of Drumkellin, in this
parish, was found, in 1833, at a depth of 16 feet beneath the surface, a
wooden house 12 feet square and 9 feet high, with a roof perfectly flat,
completely framed and compactly joined; the frame-work consisted of large
trunks of trees, the sides of cleft planks of oak about three inches thick,
and the joints were cemented with a composition resembling tar and grease.
The house rested on thick layers of sand and gravel spread on the bog, which
was 15 feet deep beneath its foundation; and traces of a paved road leading
to it, and resting on sleepers of timber, with numerous vestiges of domestic
utensils, were found in several places around the building.